Countess Beatrice von Hochberg (1929-2021), Granddaughter of Princess Daisy of Pless

Photo (c) Fundacja Księżnej Daisy von Pless.

Over this past weekend, Countess Beatrice von Hochberg died on 10 October at Munich. She was ninety-two years-old. The countess was the eldest sister of the current Prince of Pless.

Count Konrad and Countess Beatrice.

Photo (c) Zamek Książ w Wałbrzychu.

Countess Clotilde von Hochberg (formerly Princess of Pless) with her two eldest children, Count Konrad and Countess Beatrice.

Photo (c) Zamek Książ w Wałbrzychu.

Born on 15 July 1929 at Fürstenstein, Countess Beatrix "Beatrice" Maria Luise Margarethe von Hochberg, Baroness zu Fürstenstein, was the first child and only daughter to arrive during the marriage of Fürst Hans Heinrich XV of Pless, Count von Hochberg, and his second wife doña Clotilde de Silva y González de Candamo, who had married in 1925. Beatrice was followed by a younger brother, Count Konrad (1930-1934), who sadly died at the age of four from meningitis. Hans Heinrich XV and Clotilde of Pless divorced in 1934 after nine years of marriage.

The surviving children of Bolko and Clotilde (l to r): Bolko Jr., Beatrix, and Gioia.
Photo (c) Zamek Książ w Wałbrzychu.

In reality, Beatrice and her brother Konrad were the biological children of Clotilde de Silva y González de Candamo and her stepson Count Bolko von Hochberg. A few months after his father's divorce from his stepmother was finalised, Bolko and Clotilde married in 1934. They welcomed two additional children: Countess Gioia von Hochberg (b.1934; married Count Alfred Schenk von Stauffenberg; married Count Karl Magnus Leutrum von Ertingen) and Count Bolko (b.1936; current Fürst of Pless; married Ruth Marie Therese Reuther; married Elisabeth Malisse).

Beatrice and her daughter Olivia in the late 1960s.
Photo (c) Zamek Książ w Wałbrzychu.

On 29 December 1951 at Munich, Countess Beatrice von Hochberg married Dr Franz "Frank" Armin Lindemann (b.1920). The couple divorced in 1955; they had no children. On 5 June 1961, Countess Beatrice married András Rudnay de Rudna et Divékujfalu (b.1911). The couple divorced in 1965; they had one daughter, Olivia.